Call for Submissions – New Book Project

This Call for Submissions is now closed. Thank you to all who participated! Please check back for future calls.

Call for Submissions

Introducing a new book about life after corporate America and the journey to entrepreneurship. This project is being developed by author, speaker, and publisher Stephanie Chandler.

Details:

If you quit a job to start your own business, we want to hear from you! We’re looking for interesting, funny, educational, and inspiring essays and interviews about your adventures in leaving corporate America behind to become an entrepreneur. From the reader’s perspective, it should be like meeting 30 or so new entrepreneurial friends who tell the truth about what life is like after quitting a job and starting a business, including the challenges you faced and the solutions you found.

We will select up to 30 top entries for publication in a new book due out later this year. Writers of selected essays will each receive five copies of the book ($100 value), business exposure with readers, potential media coverage, and the satisfaction of seeing your story in print. If you want to inspire others by sharing your journey, and perhaps impress some clients and peers by having your story published in a professionally produced book, then please send us your essay!

Deadline: Submissions will be accepted through May 20, 2011 at midnight PST. (Due to overwhelming requests, the deadline has been extended from its original date of May 6!)

How to Participate: There are two ways to contribute. You can Complete an Interview Form or write an essay about your experiences.

Essay Themes:

Your essay should tell a story and either describe your journey as a whole (for example, “why I quit, what I did next, and where I am today”), or focus on a specific event from your journey, including any of the following topics:

The decision to quit my job

How I quit

How I started my business

Why I started my business

Challenges with running a business

How my business has grown

People who influenced my journey

What I wish I’d known then

What I would do differently if I was starting over today

What was most surprising about the journey

The goal is to inspire readers who may also be considering starting their own businesses, so please share what you think your readers would find most interesting and most valuable from your experiences.

Essay Submission Guidelines

Essays should be between 750 to 2,500 words, typed in Word. Please use 12 point Times New Roman font, double spaced.

Essays should be written in first person to best capture your personal experiences. Yes, this story is about YOU!

Following your essay, please include three to five Lessons Learned from My Journey. This should be a simple bulleted list with just a few sentences for each bullet. Keep in mind that this provides added value for the reader who may be considering making a similar move. What advice would you give a friend who is about to do what you did? That’s what you should share here.

Also include a single-paragraph bio (up to 80 words). You are welcome to include your website link.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a payment required to participate?

This call for submissions is open to the public and no fees are involved. If your story is selected, you will receive five copies of the book upon publication as a token of our thanks ($100 retail value). You will also have the option to purchase additional books at a discount, but no additional purchase is required whatsoever. The purpose of this book is NOT to sell copies to contributors, but to inspire readers who may be considering similar choices.

When will I know whether or not my submission was selected?

Contributors will be notified in summer 2011.

Where will the book be available for sale?

The book will be sold through online retailers including Amazon, BN.com, and others. It will also be available through Ingram, the world’s largest supplier of books to bookstores. That means that most major bookstores can order copies of the book when requested by a customer. It will also be distributed in multiple ebook formats.

Why are you compiling this book?

My name is Stephanie Chandler and I am an author of seven books, a professional speaker, CEO of Authority Publishing, and a corporate refugee. I left my Silicon Valley job in 2003 and have never looked back! I know that there are a lot of people out there who have considered making the entrepreneurial leap, but aren’t sure what to do next.

My hope is that by sharing the real-life stories of entrepreneurs who left corporate America, we can inspire others and help them spark their own ideas and plans. At the same time, I want to highlight the realities—the good and the bad. We all know that business ownership isn’t easy. Let’s give an honest look at what life is like so that readers know what it’s all about.

Also, I personally love learning from the real-world experiences of others. This book is a chance for us to bring together real people who have walked a similar path, and share the lessons learned through a series of interesting essays.

All essays that are selected for publication will be thoroughly edited for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Minor modifications may be made for clarity. We will send your edited essay back to you for final approval before going to press.

Stephanie Chandler is the author of several books including Booked Up! How to Write, Publish and Promote a Book to Grow Your Business, LEAP! 101 Ways to Grow Your Business, The Author’s Guide to Building an Online Platform, and From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with Books, eBooks and Information Products. She is also founder and CEO of Authority Publishing, a custom publisher specializing in nonfiction books, and BusinessInfoGuide.com, a directory of resources for entrepreneurs.

Stephanie has a passion for learning from others who have been there and done that. This book is the first in a forthcoming series that will bring together new and experienced writers to share compelling, real-life essays about lessons learned from the journey of life.